Conservative federal judge condemns ‘normalization’ of January 6 while sentencing defiant rioter

By Marshall Cohen | CNN

A federal judge on Wednesday blasted a convicted Jan. 6 rioter for downplaying the attack on the U.S. Capitol and using the kind of revisionist rhetoric that former President Donald Trump often uses during the campaign trial.

“This cannot become normal…We cannot tolerate the normalization of the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said in sentencing Taylor James Johnatakis to more than seven years in prison.

The judge warned of a “vicious cycle…that could put our institutions at risk” if Americans, unhappy with future election results, resort to the “vigilantism, anarchy and lawlessness” that have taken place on January 6, 2021.

He did not refer to Trump by name when sentencing Johnatakis, but the comparisons were clear. After Johnatakis’ conviction in November, he echoed Trump’s rhetoric in interviews about the insurrection, saying “everything about January 6 is just overblown” and calling the Washington, D.C., prison a “gulag “.

Trump used the “January 6 hostages” at the forefront of his campaign. He pledged to pardon some of those indicted for their role in the insurrection. And he performed a song at political rallies in which the voices of January 6 detainees sang the national anthem.

The judge said Wednesday that “the January 6 riot was not civil disobedience” but rather a “corrosive” and “selfish, unpatriotic” affront to the nation, where Americans were “fighting against (their) own representative government.” He cited the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau as examples of American historical figures who carried out “peaceful” but powerful acts of civil disobedience.

Johnatakis spoke briefly during the hearing, only to say “I repent of my sins” and to ask several questions common among so-called sovereign citizen conspiracy theorists who do not recognize the authority of the federal government.

Lamberth, a high-ranking judge appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, called the investigations “gibberish.”

Johnatakis was convicted in November by a federal jury of seven crimes, including assaulting a police officer and obstructing congressional proceedings. He has been incarcerated in the Washington DC prison since his conviction.

According to evidence presented at trial, Johnatakis attended Trump’s Jan. 6 rally and later threatened to “knock down the doors” as he marched toward the Capitol. Once outside the building, he incited other Trump supporters to join the massive crowd by spewing fiery rhetoric into a megaphone – and then led the charge to break the police line using a metal barricade to subdue the police men.

He has been defiant about his actions, saying in a recent interview that “we did nothing” on January 6 and writing about the “injustice” to which he and others accused of the January 6 riots Capitol are facing behind bars.

Prosecutors said he deserved a longer prison term because of his “continuing lack of remorse.”

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